


Silent Treatment

by embroiderama



Category: White Collar
Genre: Established Relationship, Misunderstandings, Schmoop, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 16:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2435222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embroiderama/pseuds/embroiderama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soon after Neal becomes a part of Peter and El’s relationship, a misunderstanding leads to an uncomfortable silence between two stubborn men.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silent Treatment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kanarek13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kanarek13/gifts).



> This was written at the meetup for [](http://kanarek13.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://kanarek13.livejournal.com/)**kanarek13** ’s picture prompt below, but I’ve added a bit to the fic since then.

Dinner had been a tense, silent affair, and even as the three of them cleaned up the kitchen together Peter could feel the tension hanging in the air. He could barely bring himself to look at Neal, and when he did look all he would see was the tense lines of his lover’s back. El put away the last plate then closed the cabinet with more force than necessary.

“I’m going out to see how Yvonne’s doing with the Hutchersons' party, and while I’m gone I want you two to talk to each other.”

Peter looked at his wife and sighed. “Hon, I appreciate that you’re trying to fix this, but I’m really not in the mood to spend time with him right now.”

Neal snorted. “That’s rich. Seriously. I just—I’m sorry El but I’m going to head over to June’s for the night. Or the weekend.”

 _Neal was going to run,_ Peter thought. _Of course he was._

“No.” El Put her hand on Neal’s arm and glared back and forth between the men she loved. “I’m not going to say this is a stupid argument, but you two need to talk this out. So far, both of you are just going back and forth complaining to me, and not only is that unfair to me it’s also completely unproductive.”

Peter pursed his lips, but he couldn’t argue with her logic. He had been going off about Neal to El, and if Neal was doing the same thing that was putting her in an untenable position. Nonetheless, the last thing he wanted to do with his evening was have a conversation with Neal. “Hon…”

“No. I’m going out for a few hours, and when I come home I want to hear that you two have talked. I don’t think that I’m asking too much. Do you, Neal?”

Neal looked away for a moment then shook his head. “I’ll stay and talk if Peter will.”

“I don’t know that we can work this out right now.” The sharp anger in Peter’s chest made him want to say that he didn’t think they could work it out at all, but the truth was that he wasn’t willing to so easily give up on what the three of them had started to build together.

“You don’t have to fix everything. Just talk.” El stretched up to give Peter a kiss on the cheek, and he felt her touch steady him. He watched as she kissed Neal’s cheek in turn, and he was torn between appreciating how beautiful they were together and resenting how even-handed El was being. “Just talk,” she repeated, her voice gentler than it had been before.

Peter nodded his head and watched Neal do the same, and with a last look at the two of them El gathered her things and left. Peter picked up the book he’d left on the coffee table and sat down on the couch with the book open in front of him. After a moment Neal sat down on the other side of the couch with a nearly silent huff, and Peter glanced over at him before turning his gaze back to the page in front of him. He had no idea what chapter he was even on, but he needed something to look at that wasn’t Neal’s face.

“So you lied to El, then? You’re going to stare at that book instead of talking to me?”

Peter closed the book with a snap. “I am not a liar.”

Neal was quiet for a moment before replying. “I know you’re not. Maybe sometimes it would be easier if you were.”

Peter leaned forward and dropped the book on the coffee table. “What exactly would be easier about our lives if I were a liar?”

“In the past, maybe nothing, but what you want to do—making our relationship public information—is going to make your life and El’s life so much more difficult. I don’t know how you don’t see that.”

“What I see is that I’m tired of hiding the fact that I love you, and it’s hurts like hell that you’re ashamed of what we have together.” Peter rubbed his knuckles against his chest, feeling the pain of that rejection like a physical thing.

“What? I’m not ashamed. Not even close.”

Peter shook his head and looked down. There was no other way to interpret Neal’s reaction to Peter’s intention to come clean about their relationship to his family and colleagues, his startled anger at the idea. Neal shifted closer, and then his hand came to rest on top of Peter’s where he was still holding his hand near his chest, poking at himself in counterpoint to the emotional pain inside.

“Peter, look at me.”

Peter complied, and looked up to see Neal peering at him with his brows drawn together. “What?”

“Are you okay? Do you feel okay?”

Peter was confused by the sudden shift in topic for a second then realized that Neal was misinterpreting the source of his pain. “No, Neal, I’m okay.” Peter twisted his hand to wrap his fingers around Neal’s and squeezed for a moment before letting go. “It hurts that our relationship isn’t something you want people to know about. I’ll live, but I can’t deny that it hurts.”

“What I want? Peter, I don’t want you to ruin your life and El’s life over your feelings for me. I don’t want you to resent me for what it does to your family and work relationships.” Neal sighed. “Our relationship means just about everything to me, but loving you means that I don’t want to see you do this to yourself.”

Peter took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He thought of everything Neal had said in their argument the day before and reinterpreted it through this new point of view, and he found the pain of rejection being replaced by frustration and, somehow, even more love that he’d had before. “Don’t you see, you and El are more important to me than any of that? If telling the truth causes more problems than I can tolerate at work then I’ll take my retirement and get the hell out, do something else. If my family can’t deal with you being in my life then they’re not the people I think they are.”

“I don’t want you to have to learn that about your own family.”

“Jesus, Neal.” Peter ran his hand over his face. “Look, I’m sorry that I misunderstood your objections yesterday. That said, you didn’t exactly make yourself clear.”

“I thought it would be obvious.”

Peter saw the traces of old hurt in Neal’s eyes, and it was one of those moments that reminded him of how much darkness lay beneath Neal’s bright exterior. The brightness may have been what drew him to Neal initially, but the darkness—the depth—was what pulled him in against all the resistance of what he had assumed to be right. Peter reached out and cupped his hand around the back of Neal’s neck, not squeezing just holding. “I understand what you’re worried about. I just don’t care. What I care about is you and El.”

Neal shifted to lean his shoulder against Peter’s. “I’m sorry that I let you think I didn’t care. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you.”

“Come here.” Peter turned his head and met Neal’s lips. They hadn’t kissed the night before after the fight, and they hadn’t kissed in the morning. They went slowly, lips touching lightly for a moment before they opened up and kissed deeply, trading warmth. Each tiny movement of lips and tongue was a stitch, mending what had been torn between them.

When they came up for air, Neal gave Peter a gentle smile. “So,” he said, “we’re going to owe El four-handed foot massages for the next week, aren’t we?”

Peter shook his head and laughed. “Month. More like the next month.”

Neal sighed contentedly and rested his head against Peter’s. It was the most welcome weight in the world.


End file.
